Only a few people in the district of Würzburg have contracted the virus. In the district office you can take stock of the pandemic. Has the situation eased?
Since the national disaster was declared on March 16, the Würzburg district office, which also includes the City and State Health Office, has been in a state of emergency, which affects all other areas of the administration, in which it seeks personal advice and contact arrives to the citizens. In view of the sharp drop in the number of infections, preparations are now being made for normal operation – normal operation under corona conditions.
For the new district administrator Thomas Eberth, who took office on May 1, it was a start with advantages and disadvantages. Because most of the usual inaugural visits had to be canceled, he had plenty of time to familiarize himself intensively and to get to know the employees and their duties in office, he said in his first press conference. However, many of these activities currently differ significantly from the normal everyday life of the authorities.
Support for fire brigades and auxiliaries
The Landratsamt also sent 85 of the approximately 560 employees to the Health Department, says head of HR Bernhard Wallrapp, in order to identify contact persons for infected people, to support the disaster management management group or to provide information on the citizens’ telephone. From 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. the lines were busy during the high phase of the corona spread. The Health Office team was supported by doctors, medical students and employees from the city of Würzburg. In addition there were volunteers, for example from the fire brigade and the Johanniter.
“The supply of protective materials is now good.”
Eva-Maria Löffler, head of the Corona crisis team–
The head of the civil protection leadership group, Eva-Maria Löffler, thanks her in particular for this voluntary support. Johanniter Unfallhilfe, for example, used its nationwide contacts to procure sufficient protective equipment and disinfectants. The fire brigade set up a logistics center in the Klingholz fire brigade center to supply facilities and practices with protective materials. “The supply of protective materials is now good,” says Eva-Maria Löffler. Disinfectants can even be given to other institutions or churches if necessary.
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The situation has relaxed considerably, so much that Eva-Maria Löffler is now thinking about the time after the disaster. Instead of the crisis team, which is currently still working around the clock in a shift operation, a coordination group then takes up its task, whose task is to keep an eye on the infection process and to react to changes in accordance with the Bavarian early warning system.
The early warning system must be implemented
If there are 35 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days at the latest, the health department must react and take measures to contain them. For the district of Würzburg, this signal value is 57 infections, for the city it is 46. “Of course, we are always keeping an eye on the situation and will take action at the first sign,” says Eva-Maria Löffler. How far-reaching these measures can be depends on the individual case. If the number of contact persons can be narrowly limited, it may be sufficient to place only this small group of people under domestic quarantine.
1813 residents of the district had been temporarily quarantined by the health department in the past few weeks. 1416 of them had direct contact with people infected with corona. In the meantime, only eight of these so-called type 1 contact persons were still under surveillance. As of Wednesday, 14 people have contracted the virus. Seven people died in the county related to the Corona virus.
Applications for basic security tripled
The corona pandemic has made the work of the district office difficult, especially when it comes to personal contact with clients. The number of applications for basic security had tripled with the start of the lockdown, says the deputy head of the job center, Michael Schumacher. In the past, an average of 18 applications for benefits under the Hartz IV law were made each week, but since the middle of March there have been an average of 51.
“A certain relaxation has occurred due to the opening of the outside dining area.”
Michael Schumacher, job center–
The largest group among the new applications, according to Schumacher, are solo self-employed persons such as artists, freelancers and restaurateurs, as well as those receiving short-time benefits who claim to increase their salaries. The job brokers’ work was made more difficult because consultations could only take place over the phone and training and training measures had to be canceled. “A certain relaxation has occurred due to the opening of the outside catering trade,” added Schumacher.
No noticeable increase in family conflicts
The Office for Youth and Family also works under difficult conditions, as the head of the social business area, Mariam Meder, explained. Difficulties arose, among other things, when visiting families in families in which, according to the authority, the child’s welfare is at risk. Many parents refused to wear mouth-nose protection in their own home.
The youth welfare office, on the other hand, cannot register a feared increase in family conflicts during school closure, says Miriam Meder. More information from institutions and neighbors about possible family problems was received. However, the majority turned to the general social service, who were looking for help because of the all-day care of their children and the reorganization of their everyday life.
Administrative director Rainer Künzig is not yet able to say how the corona pandemic will affect the district of Würzburg financially. In addition to key allocations, the most important financing element for the district allocation is the tax revenue of the municipalities in 2018. And at that time they were still bubbling. How far the municipalities have reached the limits of their resilience as a result of the crisis can currently hardly be estimated. That mainly depends on the size of the aid package promised by the Free State.
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